Snowbound
by Tsar Bomba
Summary: "Stupid Nord." "Stubborn elf." An obstinate Altmer realizes that in order to stay alive through the night in the unforgiving Skyrim wilderness, she's going to have to get naked. Female Altmer Dragonborn/Mjoll the Lioness.


This was just a silly little oneshot I had in mind and wanting to go ahead and write down. Just FYI this isn't at all related to my other two Mjoll/female Altmer fics, this is stand-alone. Also I'm sorry to those of you who were reading my stuff for my Shep/Liara story, I've been playing the hell out of Skyrim recently and just sort of ignored Mass Effect, but I promise I'll have an update for Space Age up soon. I whipped this up in about two hours and just sort of went with whatever popped into my head, so my apologies for grammatical errors, silliness, whatever. There isn't really a plot, I just like fluffy happy endings and kissy romance. Anyways, enjoy!

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"My father, he wanted me to follow in his footsteps as a hunter." The Nord said this absentmindedly as she skinned the light-coated deer, thin but hardy, attuned to the harsh landscape its ancestors had walked before it. She slipped the knife under the animal's shoulder, careful to not rip the skin. "I set my aspirations a bit higher... he never complained." Mjoll lifted the hide and cut the red meat from the creature's breast, wrapping it in tanned leather and setting it aside. "I miss him." There was no sound for a moment other than the light scrape of steel upon flesh as Mjoll cut another hunk of dripping meat off the deer, but the crunch of snow underfoot gave her cause to look up.

"Do you _ever _stop talking?"

The remark was meant to be snide, but any malice in the Altmer's words were lost in a chattering of teeth. But Mjoll knew better anyways. The elf feigned carelessness but the Nord began to see through her facade after their first couple of weeks together. Mjoll grinned at her shivering companion, standing but bent over at the waist, her long arms wrapped around herself. In spite of the snow and ice, Aria had refused to wear anything other than mage's robes, and if her blue-tinted lips and bone-white fingers were any indication, she was paying the penalty. She quickly spun back around, both to serve as watch and because the sight of the gutted deer made her feel ill. Mjoll shook her head. "I have no idea how you survive out here. Can't even look at a skinned animal without retching."

"Easy, I make people like you do it for me."

Mjoll laughed but didn't push the issue. Once, she had attempted to teach the elf how to remove a hide without getting sick. How to stay focused on the blade, breathe through the mouth. Aria had honestly tried, but after throwing up the previous night's supper all over their kill, Mjoll had not asked her to try again and Aria hadn't offered. Perhaps it was better this way.

She returned to the task at hand, having to make her cuts a little more quickly and slightly more sloppily than she desired, but night was falling, and this was no place to set up camp. She bundled the meat into her pack and stood, kicking snow over the carcass of the deer. They didn't have time to travel far, and Mjoll didn't want wolves or other predators smelling blood and investigating. "Aria."

The Altmer turned, still shivering, her breath forming a thick steam as she breathed unevenly. Mjoll's breath hitched. The white light of the snow contrasted beautifully with the golden woman before her, and she found herself staring into the large eyes as the elf moved to face her. "Finally. Let's go. I want to get out of this retched place."

Mjoll broke out of her reverie, turning her gaze upward to look at the setting sun. "I'm afraid we won't get too far, my friend, but we'll try."

They staggered down the mountainside, the decline weak but trying in the thick snow. After only a few minutes Mjoll realized that Aria was far behind her, wheezing and laboring as she stumbled over the icy rocks. For the first time, the Nord felt genuine concern. "Stubborn elf. You're going to freeze to death."

"Shut up, stupid Nord," the Altmer muttered, nearly falling into the other woman as she finally caught up. Mjoll looked around. The floor beneath them wasn't entirely flat, but the rocky face of the mountain gave them some cover from the wind, and the trees were thick. Aria wasn't going to make it any further, regardless. "This is fine. We'll just stop here."

The two women dropped their packs on the ground and unfolded their tents, working harder than usual to drive the stakes into the frozen ground. By the time Mjoll had her tent set up, Aria was just getting the first corner set, and her hands were shaking violently. The Nord raised an eyebrow. "You alright over there?"

"I'm fine, damn it," the elf snapped back, sliding on the snow and losing her footing as she attempted to hammer in the second stake. Mjoll caught her before she fell and realized that her robes were nearly entire soaked through with melted snow. She held her still for a moment, noticing, with slight fear, that Aria's face was really too pale. "Obstinate woman. Go get the fire ready. I'll take care of the tent." Aria gave her a dirty look but didn't object, instead staggering towards a fallen tree and grabbing as many pieces of the dead but dry wood as she could. She set the branches between the tents and with a flick of her wrist had a fire blazing. By this time, Mjoll had finished with both tents and was unwrapping one of the hunks of deer meat, skewering it on sticks of iron and laying it over the fire. It would char badly, but they didn't have time to set up a proper cooking fire. The sun was falling rapidly and within an hour the night would be cold, even for the Nord.

The two ate silently, the crackling of flames and the scrape of forks on their plates the only noise apart from the light patter of falling snow and the sounds of the wilderness. Mjoll hated silence. "Do you know how I got my nickname? The Lioness?"

"No."

"Do you care to hear the tale?"

"No."

"I lived in Cyrodiil for a while, after the Great War. I saw the Imperial City burning. There was looting, constant strife, it was a nightmare. I went there because I thought I could help those poor people. All of those innocents who were swept into a war that they didn't have a part in." Mjoll looked up from her plate then, and she couldn't tell if it was lack of vision caused by the coming darkness or the dancing of the fire, but she could have sworn that Aria's golden eyes flickered up at her for a moment before returning to her white-knuckled hands. Mjoll kept talking unaffected.

"There was a family of Redguard refugees there, and they had nothing but the clothes on their back. That was enough for the others to attack them. Some of these people, they didn't even have rags. They fought naked and with their teeth like animals. These feral monsters attacked this terrified family right in front of my eyes, and I killed them all except one. This one man who cowered like a kicked dog before me. He seemed to almost regain his humanity in that moment, because he apologized and ran away. I didn't pursue him. The Redguards called me the Lioness after that. Their merciful protector." She was quiet for a moment. "I felt only pity for that poor man. The one that ran. He would have slaughtered that entire family with his bare hands, but I know that he only did it because he was afraid. I can't even imagine what they went through."

"I was there."

Mjoll looked up then, her hazel eyes meeting the golden ones across the fire. Aria's angular face had taken on a hard edge, and her eyes had narrowed. "I fought in that war. I know what they went through. I was the one who did it to them." She was silent after that, but she seemed to be challenging the Nord to say something. To call her a murderer. A monster. But Mjoll only offered what had to be a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure it was horrible for you too."

Aria looked taken aback, as if sympathy was the last emotion she had expected from her companion.

"Aria, you're my friend. The past is the past."

The elf was quiet. What she didn't know was that Mjoll had heard her mutterings in the night, curses and panicky streams of words that fell from the Altmer's lips while she was asleep. But Mjoll didn't tell her this. The elf was too proud to admit to such a thing anyways. The two stared at each other from across the fire, and the elf finally let her face soften into a small smile. Aria let a shaky breath out. An icy sigh that sent a thick steam into the dark. "I... appreciate that." Again she was silent for a moment while the Nord watched her. "I'm going to bed," she said suddenly, standing up quickly. Mjoll felt her absence immediately, but smiled after her. "Goodnight," Mjoll said, but the words were not returned as the elf ducked into her tent.

The Nord sat staring at the fire, the flames warming her bones and the smoke curling and forming beautiful patterns in the moonlit sky above her. She sat there for some time lost in her own thoughts, for some reason always thinking back to the rare but pretty smile the elf had given her just minutes before, but a violent shuddering from Aria's tent brought her back to reality, and she looked to see that the sides of the small tent were vibrating just slightly. "You alright in there?" she called, leaning sideways to look around the fire.

"I'm fine," came the clipped reply, but the Altmer's normally controlled and tight voice sounded weak in the Nord's ears and she stood, a wave of concern washing over her as she did. She opened the tent flap and squinted into the dark, her eyes only taking a moment to acclimate. "I said I'm fine, stupid Nord," the elf muttered from the ground, but Mjoll shook her head. "No, you're not. You're still wearing those wet robes. You're going to get frostbitten if you don't take them off."

"Take them off? Are you mad?" Aria sat up then and Mjoll swallowed tight as she looked at the Altmer's face. Her lips were blue, and her normally golden skin was the color of bone. She was shivering so violently that she could barely speak. "I'm not taking anything off!"

Mjoll stepped into the tent and started to remove her gauntlets. "Look, I've been living in snow a lot longer than you have. Take your damn clothes off. There's only one way to get you warm."

Aria gave her a confused look. "What? Why are you taking your armor off? What in oblivion are you doing, you ridiculous woman?"

Mjoll kept removing more of her armor, unabashed. "I used to be part of a hunting party near Winterhold. The only way we stayed warm up there was by stripping down and sleeping in the same tent. Our body heat kept each other warm, and-"

"Absolutely not! There's no way I'm going to 'strip down' and sleep in here with you!"

The Nord's face finally became serious, and she reached across the Altmer's legs and grabbed one of her hands, the white fingers long and spidery in the dark. She held the shaking hand in her own, rubbing her palms over it and trying to bring blood back to the Altmer's fingers. "You lose the fingers first. I've seen it happen. How do plan on using that fancy magic of yours without fingers? How will you hold a sword or dagger?"

She spoke plaintively, without any meanness, but the look on Aria's face was one of pure horror. "I don't want to lose my fingers."

"You're going to die if you don't listen to me, Aria."

The elf looked at her then, and staring into the Nord's eyes, she knew she wasn't lying. "I don't want to die," she muttered, her voice shaky as she realized just how serious this was. For a moment Mjoll just held her hand, and her face softened as she looked into Aria's frightened face.

"Aria, I don't want you to die either, so take your damn clothes off."

Aria huffed, but finally started to peel off the damp layers of her robes, shivering harder as more skin was revealed. Mjoll watched, making sure that no patches of blackened skin had already bloomed on the Altmer's skin, but she saw none. Finally she was undressed, but for a moment Mjoll only sat there staring blankly at the elf. The firelight from outside cast dancing shadows over Aria's body, and Mjoll was mesmerized by the beauty of it for a moment.

"Is your lurid stare supposed to warm me up? Because it isn't working."

Mjoll's face flushed scarlet as she met the Altmer's eyes, but to her surprise, she saw that a faint blush had colored Aria's cheeks as well. Mjoll diverted her gaze and grabbed Aria's wet robes in a bundle and stuck them in the corner closest to the fire. It wasn't the most effective way to dry them, but suddenly she was finding herself a bit excited about the prospect of getting into Aria's bedroll. "Move over."

Aria obliged, turning so that her back faced Mjoll's chest as the Nord slid in. They were flush against each other, Aria's back pressed into Mjoll's breasts, and Mjoll's legs curving into the backs of Aria's knees. They lay there stiffly, the elf still shivering harshly, and almost instinctively the Nord wrapped her arms around the woman and grabbed her hands, kneading the frozen flesh between her fingers. "Just relax, you'll warm up soon."

The Altmer let out a humorless laugh. "You probably just did this to see me naked."

Mjoll's retort was faster than either of them expected. "Maybe I did, now shut up and try to sleep."

For a moment there was silence. The fire was dying and a blackness fell over the tent. Aria's breathing began to slow and her convulsions occured less often. Mjoll pressed her face into the back of Aria's head, her lips brushing against the soft blonde locks as she felt the woman next to her began to warm. Sleepily, she shifted closer still to the elf. Aria herself began to relax into Mjoll's body, as her shoulders dropped and she slipped her feet between Mjoll's ankles, letting the Nord's warmth heat her flesh. "Stupid Nord," Aria muttered quietly, shutting her eyes and slipping further into sleep.

"Stubborn elf," the Nord whispered in return, her breathing becoming deeper as she too fell asleep.

The night passed quickly, and dawn brought a bright and warm sun to shine through the narrow slit between the flaps of the tent. The beam of light flashed across Mjoll's eyes, and she woke, blinking groggily and shifting instinctively so that the sun no longer blinded her. She felt the warmth of a body next to her, long and thin and entirely pressed into her. She felt fine hair underneath her chin, but as she rose from the depths of sleep, she felt something else. Sometime in the night her hand had cupped Aria's breast, and she could feel the soft and supple flesh beneath her fingers, and she froze. Suddenly she felt hot, too hot, as the blood rushed to her face and to the pit of her stomach. As much as she didn't want to, she began to slowly move her hand away, doing anything she could to keep the elf from waking, but to her shock, Aria's hand moved up to cover her own, pressing the rough palm against her breast.

Silence. Aria laid unmoving, as if waiting for Mjoll to make her move. Something had shifted between them in the night. The thin wall of uncertainty had collapsed, at least for the Nord, and she felt herself leaning down to place her lips, gently, on the long curve of Aria's neck. The Altmer shifted, rolling over to face the other woman, and gave her an appraising look. Mjoll looked into Aria's face, her eyes moving over the angular cheeks, the sharp chin, the large eyes, while Aria's fingers traced along the strip of dark paint that ran the length of Mjoll's own visage. Mjoll leaned in and took Aria's lips in her own, the kiss quick and uncertain, but they broke apart grinning.

"Stupid Nord."

"Stubborn elf."


End file.
